Manipulate Your Visitors With Reverse Psychology

Written by Rich Hamilton, Jr

Many people say that it is easy to write a sales copy and that there is really nothing to it. Well, all I can say is they are wrong! For many, writing your sales copy is difficult. Having ability to write sales copy is an attribute that not many people have. When writing a sales copy you need to realize that there are a lot of psychological principles that are involved in process. Reverse psychology on other hand, is even more powerful when it is used properly.

In this article I am going to go over how reverse psychology works, how to apply it to a sales copy and when best and effective time to use it is.

How Reverse Psychology Works

Reverse psychology is nothing more than a mind game you play and object of game is to confuse and distort minds of others. I know it may sound complicated, but really it's not. In fact, you've probably used it and don't even realize it. Let me give you an example of how it works, so that you can fully comprehend it.

If you have children, you can probably relate to this. When you tell children not to do something, what's first thing they do? They get into whatever it is that you just told them not to, why? Because you have accelerated their curiosity and desire to see what you have. If you were to apply reverse psychology, you would tell child that they could have it. It wouldn't be fun anymore, you've taken away their desire to have it and as a result, they wouldn't want it. Moreover, you have accelerated need to know why. Why are you giving it to them?

This does not only apply to children, this also applies to adults and they will react in same way. If you were to apply same scenario to an adult, they would react in same manner as child did.

Applying To Sales Copy

When is best and most effective time to apply reverse psychology to your sales copy, it is in your opening statement, when establishing your credibility, and in your guarantee. These are just a few important elements of your sales copy that are most effective areas to use reverse psychology on your visitors.

A Copywriter Never Mumbles – and Other Principles of Effective Ad Copy

Written by Walter Burek

H.L. Mencken, author, jounalist and social critic observed that most people "write badly because they cannot think clearly." And reason they cannot think clearly, he went on, is that "they lack brains."

Putting aside H.L.'s cricisim for moment, let's assume that all copywriters have "brains" and, more often than not, we are capable of clear thinking. It follows then, that we stand a very good chance of being able to write well. But clarity of thought is only step one. The following principles will help you move on from there, so that you can put down in writing exactly what you have in mind.

1. Don't mumble.

Advertising is most effective when it is easy to understand. (Take a look at any advertising effectiveness study.) In other words, you sell more stuff when you write copy that is clear.

Copy that speaks out commands attention; copy that mumbles doesn't. So once you've thought about what you want to say, come right out and say it. Don't mumble your message by being short on specifics or long-winded in your sentences. And don't use big words, cliches, jargon or borrowed interest.

Keep in mind E.B White's sobering advice: "When you say something, make sure you have said it. Your chances of having said it are only fair."

2. Get to point.

Start selling with your very first sentence. Try to make it and every sentence that follows simple and declarative. Factual. And short. Short is powerful. Lincoln used only 266 words in his Gettysburg Address. And many believe that shortest sentence in New Testament – "Jesus wept." – is also most moving.

3. Don't write like a nerd, a lawyer or a bureaucrat.

In his Simple and Direct, Jaques Barzun says, "The whole world will tell you, if you care to ask, that your words should be simple and direct. Everybody likes other fellow's prose plain." Don't inflict technical jargon, pompous words or fancy phrases on your readers. Remember, you're trying to communicate with them, not impress them with your grasp of show-off fad words or vague abstractions. Why write "sub-optimal" when you mean "less than ideal?" Why write "interface" when it is more clear and direct to write "discuss, "meet," or "work with?" Why take chance of annoying your reader by writing "net net" instead of "conclusion?"